Nikola Tesla and the electric car mystery

75 years ago died Nikola Tesla, born in Smilja in what is now Croatia in 1856 of Serbian parents but naturalized American in 1891, one of the most brilliant and eclectic inventor, physicist and electric engineer of the “Belle Epoque”.

Tesla, the Belle Epoque genius

Tesla was known already in life for his work especially in the field of electromagnetism, with patents (280 in total in 26 different countries) and studies which settled the basis for the development of the electric system based on alternative current supply, the multiphase electric grid and the AC electrical engines.

A few documents come to us

Unfortunately, also because of a fire that destroyed his lab in 1895, the brilliant electrical engineer left inadequate documentation of the results obtained, often in the form of simple, handwritten notes, and that's why on the web flourished a number of stories and urban legends difficult to establish around him and his work.

The electric Pierce Arrow of 1931

One of these stories is about a supposed electric car: in the summer of 1931, Tesla would have got some drive tests on a Pierce Arrow luxury sedan powered by an electric engine Brushless AC which Tesla installed in place of the original gas engine and modified with the addiction of a mysterious gravitational energy converter whose function turn out it was the same of the Moray converter.

The car was seen at Buffalo

During the tests the car, which is said to have reached 130 km/h, would have been driven by Petar Savo (with Tesla as a mere passenger), who would have confirmed to several passers-by of the city of Buffalo, north from New York, that the caro didn't emitted exhaust fumes since it was powered by an electric engine.

The invention was never exploited

Tesla knew exactly that all this was in contradiction with technical notions of his times, that's why the inventor (who was known for being not interested in money) didn't think about any kind of commercial operation of what was born as a project carried out by pure pleasure, but which was ahead of 80 years the development of modern electric cars.

Has it been discovered in a dump?

But what happened to the car, if it has ever existed? So far no one knew, even if it should have been stored in a farm not too far from Niagara falls. Now, according to some french sites which have spread the news, particularly Gatsbyonlin.com, is should have been discovered in a dump, completely abandoned.

The mystery goes on

Pictures widespread that you can see in this article too indeed show a Pierce Arrow, too bad that there are no evidence to say if it is the Tesla's one or not. Above all, if the car in the photos is really the Tesla's electric car, why nobody hasn't still started a project to recover it and display in some museum? The mystery goes on.

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